Arabic original here.
The Cross is Our Path to Christ
How should we understand the cross or how should we translate it into our life? The Lord answered this when He said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." It is as though the Lord wanted to say that there is no way for us to know Him and to see Him except for the way that He Himself chose to reveal Himself to the world: the cross, the tomb and the resurrection. The cross was His path to victory. It was His path to conquering history. It was His path to our heats. We cannot attain anything of truth, anything of light, anything of joy, anything of peace, anything of existence, we cannot have any of this if we do not pass through the cross. We have no choice. The cross was chosen for us and we were cast upon it from the moment we knew Jesus. Whoever belongs to Christ belongs to the wood, belongs to the nails. The nails pierce his flesh; that is, a burden is placed in his spirit and suffering enters into him.
But this path is for us to choose and for us not to choose. If we want Christ, this is His path. But if we want to be comfortable, not to toil, if we want to immerse our bodies in pleasure and go rule over people, then we have no cross and we have no Christ.
Christ warned us of this lethal temptation: for us to mix what belongs to the world with what belongs to Him, for us to accept some sins and some virtues. This is not possible. We cannot accept Christ and the world. Religion and this world cannot be brought together. It is not possible for us to be known and loved by both the good and the wicked, by both the rulers and the ruled, and to belong to Christ. We cannot devour people's wealth, or even just some of it, and belong to Christ. We cannot indulge in illicit pleasures and belong to Christ. We are crucified, we are humiliated, we are killed if we desire Christ. This is our scripture. The path is arduous, planted with thorns. The path ends at the tree upon which the Son of God was cast, crucified, crushed, broken to the point of death and humiliation.
So what comes after this? Those who for three hundred years were killed after their Lord, day after day, who were imprisoned, chased from their homes, devoured by beasts, those who were slaughtered, they became the kings of history and the masters of our hearts. The martyrs triumphed and Nero and his ilk were forgotten in the oubliette of time. This strong is not the one who is pointed out by people. He is not the arrogant, the criminal, the one who loots people's wealth. This one is nothing. But the one who is meek, kind, humble, loving, welcoming, the one from whom is stolen not the one who steals, the one who is cursed and does not defend himself, this one is the master of us all.
The Lord tells us, "If you want to follow me, deny yourself and follow me." The question is: what will become of me if I abandon my lusts, my desires and every one of my whims, if I crush every bit of egotism within me, if I make myself a slave to Christ and a footstool for people, what will become of me? Will people forget me? Of course. But what remains if I am forgotten and crushed in their minds? The Apostle Paul gave the answer in today's epistle: we are alive in Christ Jesus who loved us and gave Himself up for us.
If I empty myself of every semblance of evil within me, then Christ is alive in me. If we cast out the corrupt man within us, then we have engaged in a great trade. We have sold ourselves and bought Christ and no trade is more profitable. The one get from it is vastly more beautiful than what we have cast out. The one we get one who is vastly more clever than the false cleverness that belongs to us. We get one who is vastly richer than the wealth from which we have been saved. We get Christ. We get the Lord, He who alone is good, who alone is wise, who alone is rich, who creates us in every good thing, every mercy and every strength.
The Cross is Our Path to Christ
How should we understand the cross or how should we translate it into our life? The Lord answered this when He said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." It is as though the Lord wanted to say that there is no way for us to know Him and to see Him except for the way that He Himself chose to reveal Himself to the world: the cross, the tomb and the resurrection. The cross was His path to victory. It was His path to conquering history. It was His path to our heats. We cannot attain anything of truth, anything of light, anything of joy, anything of peace, anything of existence, we cannot have any of this if we do not pass through the cross. We have no choice. The cross was chosen for us and we were cast upon it from the moment we knew Jesus. Whoever belongs to Christ belongs to the wood, belongs to the nails. The nails pierce his flesh; that is, a burden is placed in his spirit and suffering enters into him.
But this path is for us to choose and for us not to choose. If we want Christ, this is His path. But if we want to be comfortable, not to toil, if we want to immerse our bodies in pleasure and go rule over people, then we have no cross and we have no Christ.
Christ warned us of this lethal temptation: for us to mix what belongs to the world with what belongs to Him, for us to accept some sins and some virtues. This is not possible. We cannot accept Christ and the world. Religion and this world cannot be brought together. It is not possible for us to be known and loved by both the good and the wicked, by both the rulers and the ruled, and to belong to Christ. We cannot devour people's wealth, or even just some of it, and belong to Christ. We cannot indulge in illicit pleasures and belong to Christ. We are crucified, we are humiliated, we are killed if we desire Christ. This is our scripture. The path is arduous, planted with thorns. The path ends at the tree upon which the Son of God was cast, crucified, crushed, broken to the point of death and humiliation.
So what comes after this? Those who for three hundred years were killed after their Lord, day after day, who were imprisoned, chased from their homes, devoured by beasts, those who were slaughtered, they became the kings of history and the masters of our hearts. The martyrs triumphed and Nero and his ilk were forgotten in the oubliette of time. This strong is not the one who is pointed out by people. He is not the arrogant, the criminal, the one who loots people's wealth. This one is nothing. But the one who is meek, kind, humble, loving, welcoming, the one from whom is stolen not the one who steals, the one who is cursed and does not defend himself, this one is the master of us all.
The Lord tells us, "If you want to follow me, deny yourself and follow me." The question is: what will become of me if I abandon my lusts, my desires and every one of my whims, if I crush every bit of egotism within me, if I make myself a slave to Christ and a footstool for people, what will become of me? Will people forget me? Of course. But what remains if I am forgotten and crushed in their minds? The Apostle Paul gave the answer in today's epistle: we are alive in Christ Jesus who loved us and gave Himself up for us.
If I empty myself of every semblance of evil within me, then Christ is alive in me. If we cast out the corrupt man within us, then we have engaged in a great trade. We have sold ourselves and bought Christ and no trade is more profitable. The one get from it is vastly more beautiful than what we have cast out. The one we get one who is vastly more clever than the false cleverness that belongs to us. We get one who is vastly richer than the wealth from which we have been saved. We get Christ. We get the Lord, He who alone is good, who alone is wise, who alone is rich, who creates us in every good thing, every mercy and every strength.
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